The Ministry of Defence has pledged at least £2 billion of spending on new developments at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), according to new information released in response to a Parliamentary Question from Caroline Lucas MP.

West Berkshire Council's Eastern Area Planning Committee has agreed to renew planning permission for a Conventional Manufacturing Facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Burghfield – but only on condition that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirms that it has no objections to the development on nuclear safety grounds in the light of the Fukushima nuclear accident.

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has submitted a planning application to West Berkshire Council to extend the time limit for construction of a new conventional manufacturing rationalisation (CMR) facility at AWE Burghfield.

The two Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites in Berkshire have been included on a secret shortlist of sites where the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is thinking of dumping radioactive waste from defunct nuclear powered submarines, according to an authoritative report in a Scottish newspaper.

The Nuclear Awareness Group (NAG), based in Reading, has lodged a complaint with West Berkshire Council over the handling of a planning application at AWE in Burghfield by outlining their concerns about the way plans to build a new nuclear warhead facility were handled.